Tom’s Featured Tip: Right Hand Action

For simplicity, all advice on actual swings or drills is provided from a right handed perspective.

I’m currently giving a student lessons who has developed – or adopted – a very strong right hand grip as his natural grip.

I say adopted not developed, because he’s relatively new to the game.

A strong right hand grip is seductive in that it feels powerful, but it prevents the correct club head rotation to and through impact.

An extra strong right hand grip tends to cause the clubface to be taken back shut (closed), and the downswing usually results in either over rotation at impact, or a motion that actually opens the face at impact in an attempt to compensate for over rotation.

Either motion through impact produces a bad result, so develop a grip that is somewhere between neutral and strong,

and practice this drill to train your right hand to react properly through impact.

The Short Swing Toe Up to Toe Up Drill
Simply strike a ball with right hand only short swings – swings that produce a ten to fifteen yard carry.

Adopt a grip that falls between neutral and strong.

Ball position is just forward of center.

Take your backswing to the point where the shaft is parallel to the ground.

Then check to make sure that toe of the club is pointing to the sky (the “toe up” part of the backswing).

Ideally it would point upward a little less than that, the leading edge of the clubface would be parallel to your upper body forward lean angle (tilt). However, when I have a student do a drill to correct a negative fault, I intentionally have them over correct then eventually back them off to ideal.

Execute a short swing with good rotation, and take your abbreviated follow through to a point where the shaft is parallel to the ground pointing a little left of your target line with the toe of the club pointing to the sky (the “toe up” part of the forward swing).

This drill will produce the correct feeling for natural club face rotation through impact.